This is a list of the mammal species recorded in the Maldives. There are eleven mammal species in the Maldives, of which one is vulnerable.
The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature:
Some species were assessed using an earlier set of criteria. Species assessed using this system have the following instead of near threatened and least concern categories:
Order: Sirenia (manatees and dugongs)
Sirenia is an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit rivers, estuaries, coastal marine waters, swamps, and marine wetlands. All four species are endangered.
The bats' most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammals capable of flight. Bat species account for about 20% of all mammals.
Order: Cetacea (whales)
The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. They are the mammals most fully adapted to aquatic life with a spindle-shaped nearly hairless body, protected by a thick layer of blubber, and forelimbs and tail modified to provide propulsion underwater.
- Suborder: Mysticeti
- Family: Balaenopteridae
- Subfamily: Balaenopterinae
- Genus: Balaenoptera
- Minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata LR/nt
- Bryde's whale, Balaenoptera edeni <span style="color:#cccccc;">DD</span>
- Sei whale, Balaenoptera borealis <span style="color:red;">EN</span>
- Fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus <span style="color:red;">EN</span>
- Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus <span style="color:red;">EN</span>
- Subfamily: Megapterinae
- Genus: Megaptera
- Humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae CR (Arabian Sea Population)
- Suborder: Odontoceti
- Family: Physeteridae
- Genus: Physeter
- Sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus <span style="color:#bb0000;">VU</span>
- Superfamily: Platanistoidea
- Family: Kogiidae
- Genus: Kogia
- Pygmy sperm whale, Kogia breviceps LR/lc
- Family: Ziphidae
- Subfamily: Hyperoodontinae
- Genus: Indopacetus
- Longman's beaked whale, Indopacetus pacificus <span style="color:#cccccc;">DD</span>
- Family: Delphinidae (marine dolphins)
- Genus: Stenella
- Pantropical spotted dolphin, Stenella attenuata LR/cd
- Striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba LR/cd
- Spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris LR/cd
- Genus: Tursiops
- Common bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus LC
- Genus: Lagenodelphis
- Fraser's dolphin, Lagenodelphis hosei <span style="color:#cccccc;">DD</span>
- Genus: Grampus
- Risso's dolphin, Grampus griseus <span style="color:#cccccc;">DD</span>
- Genus: Peponocephala
- Genus: Orcinus
- Orca, Orcinus orca <span style="color:#cccccc;">DD</span>
- Melon-headed whale, Peponocephala electra LR/lc
- Superfamily Ziphioidea
- Family: Ziphiidae
- Genus: Mesoplodon
- Deraniyagala's beaked whale, Mesoplodon hotaula <span style="color:#cccccc;">DD</span>
See also
Notes
References